Tennis Player Monica Seles Urges Congress to Support the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act

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Tennis Player Monica Seles Urges Congress to Support the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act

Monica Seles, former world No. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, recently wrote U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio and asked them co-sponsor the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act.

I’m writing because you have a unique opportunity to advance medical research in the United States and help retire chimpanzees from laboratory cages to sanctuaries.

The Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, S. 810, will phase out invasive experiments on chimpanzees and help retire these astonishingly smart and social beings to sanctuaries. These individuals have already endured tremendous suffering and deserve to spend their final years in peace.

The bill will also help trim unnecessary spending as close to 80 percent of chimpanzees are not even being used in active experiments. That’s because so many researchers have come to the conclusion that chimpanzees are not good models for human diseases. This important legislation will save a third of a billion dollars in just a decade. It will help shift these funds to modern, advanced research methods that are the best bet for discovering treatments for HIV, hepatitis C, and other diseases affecting humans.

The Institute of Medicine agrees that chimpanzee experiments are not necessary for progress in medical research. Please join the more than 170 members of Congress who have already voiced their support for the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act.